Once a crow saw an old Brahmin eating some bread. The crow was very hungry. When the Brahmin was looking away, the crow quickly snatched a piece of bread and flew away with it. The hungry crow flew to a tree in the woods nearby and sat down to eat the tasty piece of bread.Just then, a Jackal came up from behind. The Jackal saw the crow sitting on the tree with the piece of bread in her beak. The Jackal was a very cunning and greedy animal. He wanted to have the bread. The cunning Jackal wanted to take away the bread from the crow so he could eat it. He thought fast and came up with a plan. He went over to the crow and started praising her. "O beautiful bird, Are you new to the woods? I have never seen another bird as pretty as you!"At first the crow ignored the Jackal. She knew that the Jackal was a cunning animal. But the Jackal did not give up. He praised her even more. "Not only are your feathers brightly colored, you also have that quiet beauty!"

After a while, the crow began to feel flattered. She had never heard so many nice things being said about her. She even started believing the Jackal's words. The Jackal said, "I am sure a bird as pretty as you can sing well too!"The crow listened to the Jackal's words of flattery and started to believe that she could sing. She decided to sing. Just as she opened her beak to sing, the bread fell from her beak only to be snapped by the cunning Jackal.It was only then that the poor crow realized that she had been tricked by the cunning Jackal. As she looked helplessly, the Jackal mocked her and went away with the piece of bread. The crow thought "Alas! If only I had not been carried away by flattery...."Moral: Flattery is the weapon of the cunning. Do not be carried away by flattery.